


Eevee Quest

by EeveeNicks



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Adventure, Eeveelutions - Freeform, Evolution, Gen, Mystery, POV: Pokemon, Pokemon Fanfiction, Pokemon Journey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-05
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-14 23:49:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9210653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EeveeNicks/pseuds/EeveeNicks
Summary: Choosing an evolution is like a rite of passage for any young Eevee, but one young Eevee decides he wants to break his family's tradition and become an Umbreon. The only problem is he doesn't even know how to go about evolving into Umbreon or what type of Pokemon it even is! Eevee and friends will set out on a new adventure to discover the lost secrets of this mysterious evolution





	1. Mysterious Pokémon

As the sun rose, it shone brightly through the mouth of the cave. It was a crisp, cool morning, and the plants in the area were heavy with a fresh dew as the sky cast its orange glow over everything. Deep within the cave, seven little Eevee slumbered peacefully, all curled up around one another to try to stay warm despite the chill in the night’s air. But as the sun rose ever higher and illuminated the seven little Pokémon, they began to stir one by one.

            The largest of the Eevees awoke first, his ears and nose twitching as the light spread over his eyes. He opened them groggily and blinked a few times as he stared out into the cave. He knew it was morning, and though he wanted nothing more than to roll over and try to fall back to sleep, he knew he had to get up and get on with his day. Besides, it was too bright now for him to try to go back to sleep even if the flood of sunlight did not bother his six fluffy siblings.

            Eevee hopped to his feet and slunk quietly away from the fluffy Eevee cuddle puddle. He needed a moment to himself and decided the best place to do that would be in the woods where he and his family lived. There was a lot on Eevee’s mind lately, particularly after what he and his friends had done a few nights ago on Halloween. His friend, Charmander, had told their little friend group a campfire ghost story about a haunted tower out in Lavender Town. Legend had it, according to the lizard Pokémon, that if an Eevee went there on the night of All Hallows Eve on a full moon, the Eevee would evolve into a ghost-type Pokémon called Ghosteon.

            Of course, Eevee and his friends could not resist going out to test this theory so they could rub it into Charmander’s face when he was wrong, but something very strange had happened that night. Eevee, Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle had snuck out and traveled through Rock Tunnel with the help of a friendly Onix. When they had arrived in Lavender Town, they had found the legendary Pokémon Tower easily and proceeded to sneak into it. Of course, Eevee had not evolved into a Ghosteon, but they had met the two mysterious Pokémon who guarded the place: Espeon and Umbreon.

            Up until that moment, Eevee had believed there were only three forms he could evolve into: Jolteon, Flareon, and Vaporeon. Each required the use of an elemental stone, or so he had been told by his mother when he was a much smaller pup. Now he had met these two new Pokémon, Espeon and Umbreon, and as soon as he had met them, he knew they were both evolved forms of Eevees. Espeon, a purple fox-like creature with a red jewel on her forehead, had most likely been a psychic type. He recalled the way she had closed doors without touching them, and it seemed like a logical conclusion.

            He found, however, that he had no idea what Umbreon was. The black Pokémon’s body had contained several golden rings that appeared almost to glow in the dim light of the tower, and his eyes has been a piercing red. Eevee had never seen pokemon like either of them in his life, but he had found himself particularly drawn to the mystique of the Umbreon, and in that moment he had discovered something about himself.

            He knew what he wanted to evolve into.

            Choosing an evolution was a big moment in the life of any young Eevee, even if they did not always get the opportunity to become their chosen form. Sometimes, if an Eevee had a trainer, the trainer would select the evolution for it. This Eevee didn’t have a trainer, nor did he ever plan to, but he knew what he wanted to become. Somehow, he was going to find a way to become an Umbreon like the one he had met at Pokémon Tower.

            The only problem was that he had no idea how to do that. He didn’t even know what type of Pokémon Umbreon was. He had several older brothers and sister who had left the cave and gone on to evolve into Flareons like their mother or Vaporeons like their father. There were a few Jolteons in their extended family, but he had only met them a few times. If Eevee became an Umbreon, he would be the first in his family to do so, and that idea excited him.

            As the little brown Pokémon trotted out of the cave, he noticed his mother not far off, sitting beside an egg she was warming. The fluffy red and yellow Flareon and her new egg sat peacefully in a patch of sunlight in their little thicket of woods, and she turned to look at her son as Eevee approached.

            “Good morning, Eevee,” she called to the little Pokemon, perking up her ears. “You’re up early.”

            “Yeah…” Eevee slowed his pace, and his ears twitched nervously as he approached his mother. “Mom, remember when I was a kid and you told me about the three different types of pokemon I could evolve into?”

            Flareon stared curiously at her son. “Of course.”

            “Well… you know how my big brothers and sisters became Flareons and Vaporeons?” His pace slowed to a crawl as he inched closer to his mother. “I’ve been thinking… I don’t really want to evolve into the same Pokémon they did.”

            Something like relief seemed to cross Flareon’s deep black eyes as she nodded. “So you want to become a Jolteon?”

            Eevee stopped as he reached his mother and pawed the ground nervously. He looked at where his tiny paws had left prints in the ground and realized how small they seemed compared to Flareon’s. “Not exactly.”

            Flareon’s ear twitched as her expression became more serious. She regarded her son quietly for a moment before speaking. “So what pokemon would you like to evolve into, Eevee?”

            The young pokemon took a deep breath as he looked his mother in the eye and puffed out his chest. “I want to become an Umbreon.”

            His mother was silent for a moment as her eyes grew wide and she stared at her son in shock. “Where did you get that idea? Who told you there’s a Pokémon called Umbreon?”

            “I… met one.”

            “You met one?”

            “Yeah,” Eevee said with a nervous nod. He was afraid his mother would find out he had snuck out to Lavender Town on Halloween night and wondered if he should not have brought it up. “Have you ever met one before?”

            Flareon stared coldly at her son. “It’s best you get such ideas out of your mind, Eevee.” She turned to look at the orange-spotted egg beside her and wrapped her fluffy yellow tail around it. “There are three eeveelutions, and you’re a bit young to be thinking about evolving anyway. Why don’t you go back and see if your little brothers and sisters are up yet?”

            Eevee’s ears drooped. “I’m old enough to think about evolution. You told me I’d know when the time was right and what I wanted to evolve into. I want to become an Umbreon. I want to be the first Umbreon in our family!”

            Flareon sighed as she stood up, leaving the egg resting in a patch of warm sunlight. “Let’s go for a walk, dear, and we can talk about this.”

            The two Pokémon walked together through the woods side by side. It had been a long time since Flareon had taken one of her pups alone on a walk like this, and it always inevitably came before a pup would decide to leave the nest and pursue an evolution. On most occasions, she had been happy to take the walk with her pups, but never before had one requested such an unusual evolution.

            “As you know,” Flareon began, turning to face her son as they walked along the bank of a babbling stream, “there are three forms you can choose to evolve into using elemental stones. When a young Eevee comes of age, he or she travels to a place called Stone Town where the humans mine elemental stones from the side of a mountain. Pokémon trainers from all over Kanto gather at the region to evolve their Pokémon, and wild Pokémon like ourselves often go into their mines and find stones to use to evolve ourselves.”

            “I know all this, Mom,” Eevee said, getting impatient.

            “I know, dear,” Flareon replied. “Let me continue. We know of the three eeveelutions that one can attain through the use of elemental stones, but that’s not to say those are the only variations of our evolved forms out there. I chose a fire stone. Your father chose a water stone. But there are other Eevees who have found more… _creative_ ways to evolve.”

            Eevee’s ears and tail perked up excitedly. “So you know how I can become an Umbreon?”

            Flareon shook her head. “Unfortunately no. I haven’t seen any of the more exotic variations of eeveelutions since I was a pup. I only met my father once before he was captured by a trainer from Celadon City. I remember he was something like a Vaporeon but not quite… He was from a distant region originally, and my mother told me he was just a different-looking Vaporeon because he came from so far away. I knew, however, even as an Eevee pup, that he was no Vaporeon. He looked very different and was a lighter blue, and he had an icy aura about him.”

            “Did you ever find out what kind of Pokémon he was before he was captured?” Eevee stared up at Flareon in awe. He had never heard her speak of his grandfather before except as a cautionary tale about how easily he might be captured by Pokémon trainers.

            Once more, Flareon shook her head. “I never knew what he was. Your grandmother insisted he was a Vaporeon until the day she died. I learned years later that there are many more evolutionary forms than we realized. Maybe more than both of us have ever seen, but aside from the three we know, I don’t have any information on any of the other forms.”

            “Oh,” Eevee’s tone took on a note of disappointment as he looked down to his front paws.

            “That’s not to say it’s impossible to find information on them though,” Flareon said with an impish grin in her son’s direction. “There are many different types of stones in Stone Town, and I know I didn’t bother to try them all before I settled on Fire. Who knows what they other types might do? And it’s a big world out there… I’m sure someone knows about this Umbreon form.”

            “So… you think if I went to Stone Town I could get information on how to evolve into an Umbreon?”

            “I don’t know,” Flareon replied. “But while you’re there looking for information on how to become an Umbreon, maybe you could look into look into finding out about a very icy eeveelution I know was definitely not a Vaporeon? I’ve always wanted to make the trip back to Stone Town myself and ask, but… well, I just have so many pups now.”

            Eevee grinned and bounced excitedly. “So, you’re saying I can go to Stone Town? And I can look for a way to become an Umbreon?”

            Flareon smiled as she nodded. “I always wondered if the day would come when one of my pups wanted to stray from tradition and become something different. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised it’s you, Eevee. You were always a handful as a pup and had that adventurous side to you.”

            The little Pokémon puffed out his chest proudly and perked up his ears. “I am happy to be the Eevee that finally takes on this noble quest! I’ll find out how to become an Umbreon, and I’ll find out what kind of Pokémon grandfather really was!”

            “Good for you, Eevee.” Flareon smiled sadly. “But you’re going to have to be very careful not to get captured. Stone Town is crawling with trainers looking to catch Pokémon who will react to elemental stones.”

            “I won’t get captured! I promise!” Eevee wagged his tail eagerly as thoughts of his newest adventure raced through his mind. He could not wait to tell his friends and embark on their latest adventure.


	2. Secret Mission

 

Eevee paced impatiently through the forest as he waited for the sun to rise to its highest point. That was when he was supposed to meet up with his three best friends: Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur. They had plans to get together down by one of the local streams so they could hang out. Eevee's siblings had always thought it a bit odd that their brother hung out more with the other types of Pokémon than he did with their fluffy pack, but that never bothered him. Eevee had known the other three young Pokémon since shortly after all of them had hatched, and they had grown to become extremely close over the years.

At one time, there had been a fifth member of a their little group, Pikachu, but they had met her later on. Unfortunately, Pikachu had not been as careful as she might have been and had managed to get herself captured by a Pokémon trainer several months back. While Pikachu had handled the transition well and still occasionally came to visit, many of the adult Pokémon had gotten nervous and became somewhat overprotective of their children. As a result, Eevee and friends often found that they had to sneak around if they wanted to go out and play after dark or anywhere beyond their little patch of forest.

It had been extremely risky to take their adventure out to Lavender Town on Halloween night, and they had all told their parents that they would just be camping in the woods. Fortunately, they had all made it back before sunrise, so when the adult Pokémon had awakened, they were none the wiser about their expedition.

Eevee now wondered if that were true though. His mother had seemed to sense that he was going to ask about an alternative evolution, and she had not asked where he had encountered an umbreon. Perhaps she knew more than she had let on. Given how reluctant she had been to talk about the mysterious Pokémon, she had flipped quickly into approving his quest to Stone Town. He wondered if she had known this was coming all along.

When the sun finally reached its high place in the sky, Eevee scampered off toward the little stream deep in the woods. He bounded along excitedly as he passed a flock of curious pidgey who watched them from high up in the trees. It did not take long to reach his destination, and as he slowed to a stop, Eevee noticed Squirtle and Bulbasaur were already there waiting for him.

"Hey guys!" the puppy Pokémon called out, eagerly bouncing toward them. "Where's Fire-Butt?"

"You didn't hear?" Bulbasaur answered, a look of dread on her face. "Charmander accidently ratted himself out to his dad…"

Eevee stopped short, his ears shooting up in shock. "Ratted himself out? How?"

Squirtle sighed as the tiny turtle Pokémon shook his head. "His dad kept asking him about how his night had gone camping out in the woods with us, and he couldn't handle the pressure."

"To be fair," Bulbasaur said, "I would probably crack under the pressure if I had a charizard interrogating me too."

"Heh," Squirtle crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Fire type Pokémon don't scare me."

Bulbasaur rolled her eyes. "Fire type or not, a charizard is a charizard. Besides, the only water move you know is Bubble, so I don't know what you're getting all up on your high ponyta about."

"Regardless," Eevee said, looking between his two friends, "if Charmader's dad knows, then all of our parents are gonna know soon enough. Did he really spill the whole thing? All of it?"

"As far as I could tell," Bulbasaur replied. "When I went looking for him, his dad said he was up in the nest and not allowed to leave. He knew he went to Pokémon Tower, through Rock Tunnel, all of it. The only things he didn't mention were those two weird-looking eeveelutions we ran into, and I sure wasn't about to tell him about those."

"Speaking of eeveelutions," Squirtle added, casting a curious side-eye to the puppy Pokémon, "did you ever figure out exactly what they were?"

Eevee looked around the quiet patch of woods and listened for any eavesdroppers, but they seemed to be alone. "I don't know. All I know is that I asked my mom is she knew anything about Umbreon, and she got real defensive about it at first, like she didn't want me to know."

"You think she knows something?" Bulbasaur asked, leaning in and keeping her voice low.

Eevee nodded. "I don't think she'd ever heard of an espeon or an umbreon before, but she did tell me something strange. Apparently her father, my grandpa, might not have been a vaporeon."

Squirtle and Bulbasaur looked suddenly intrigued.

"Oh please tell me he wasn't something boring like a jolteon," Squirtle said, leaning in eagerly.

"Not at all," Eevee replied, playfully getting into a position like he was getting ready to pounce and wagging his fluffy brown tail. "He was some kind of ice pokemon. He was blue like a vaporeon, but Mom said she just knew he wasn't one. But he got captured by a trainer before she could ever find out what he was!"

Bulbasaur bounced excitedly. "I smell another mystery coming our way!"

"Hold up," Squirtle said. "Mysteries are all well and good, but have you forgotten we've got a real problem here? We're not gonna be able to solve any mysteries if we're all grounded, and you know Charmander's dad is gonna tell our parents about what we did on Halloween!"

The plant-dinosaur Pokémon's spirit fell as she ceased her bouncing. "We are so busted."

"Maybe not," Eevee said with a mischievous look in his eye. "They can't bust us if they can't find us."

"What do you mean?" the turtle Pokémon asked, eyeing Eevee skeptically.

"Well," Eevee began, "you guys know how I decided I want to evolve into an umbreon, right?"

The turtle and dinosaur both nodded.

"My mom said she always wanted to go on an adventure to find out what kind of pokemon my grandfather was and that the answers might be in a place called Stone Town. It's where all my older brothers and sisters went to when they were ready to evolve. Supposedly, the place has a whole bunch of elemental stones that can evolve an eevee into different kinds of Pokémon."

"So how does this help us with our problem?" Squirtle asked, getting impatient.

"I'm getting there," Eevee replied. "I'm going to Stone Town. I've decided I'm ready to evolve, and I'm gonna look there for clues about Umbreon and my grandfather. And I want you guys to come with me."

For a minute, neither of the little Pokémon's friends knew what to say as they stared at him in surprise.

"Eevee," Bulbasaur said after a moment, "we can't go to Stone Town. We're gonna be in enough trouble as it is for going to Lavender Town."

"Yeah," Squirtle agreed. "Are you nuts?"

"What would you rather do?" The little brown pokemon looked back and forth between his two friends. "We can sit around here, wait for our parents to find out what we did, and be grounded forever. Or we can bust Fire-Butt out of his nest and go on an adventure and solve mysteries and stuff."

Bulbasaur considered the idea for a moment before she nodded. "Anything beats getting grounded. Just curious though… if the stones can evolve an eevee into a bunch of different things, can they evolve a bulbasaur as well?"

"Or a squirtle?" the little turtle added.

Eevee shrugged his shoulders. "I don't see why not."

Bulbasaur grinned. "Sure beats having to level up."

"But what if our folks worry about us?" Squirtle asked, casting a sober air over the little group of friends. "They might think we got captured or something. Or worse, we might actually get captured or something."

Eevee thought for a moment. "We could have another Pokemon tell them where we are. One that they can't ground…" The little Pokemon's ears poked up as he remembered the flock of pidgey he had passed earlier. "I know. I'll tell one of the pidgey, and it can tell our parents we're okay but not to come looking for us because we are on a quest to evolve!"

"We're still gonna be in soooo much trouble when we get back," Bulbasaur said. "We're never gonna be allowed to leave our nests again."

"But if you evolve into an ivysaur," Eevee said with an impish grin, "then you can prove to them that you're practically a grown up and they shouldn't be punishing you to begin with."

Squirtle eyed his friend warily. "You're a bad influence, Eevee."

"So you're not coming?" the puppy pokemon asked.

"I didn't say that," Squirtle retorted, folding his arms in front of him again. "You better not try to leave me behind. I've always wanted to be a wartortle!"

Bulbasaur rolled her eyes. "Most squirtle generally try to learn Water Gun before they evolve."

The tiny turtle glared at his friend. "Just because you're a couple of levels higher than me and know Vine Whip doesn't make you're more ready to evolve."

"I'm pretty sure that's exactly what it means," Bulbasaur replied in an exasperated tone. "But that's not important right now. We need to get the pidgey in on our plan and then figure out a way to rescue Fire-Butt."

Eevee nodded. "Exactly. Squirtle, you go tell the pidgey and make sure they know to go to all of our parents and tell them we went on a mission to find a way to evolve." Then he paused and thought for a moment. "Actually, get them to tell that to all of your parents but not mine. My mom already knows I'm going to Stone Town. I don't want her to get suspicious when a pidgey comes by and tells her something she already knows. I don't want her comparing notes with you guys' parents and figuring out exactly where we are. Because you know they'll try to come after us, and I don't think anyone here can run faster than a charizard can fly."

Bulbasaur and Squirtle both nodded quietly. It was one thing to try to outrun a venasaur or a blastoise, but Charmander's dad could easily track them from the air and cut them off before they ever made it to Stone Town. Then their quest would be over before it began and they would get the grounding of a lifetime.

"Bulbasaur," Eevee said, turning to the plant pokemon, "you come with me. We're gonna spring Charmander from the nest. All four of us will meet back at this spot at sundown and head out from here. Any objections?"

Bulbasaur and Squirtle both shook their heads. Adrenaline pumped through all three of the young Pokémon. They knew their missions were dangerous and that there was a good chance of them getting caught before they ever managed to get out of their safe, little forest, but it was a chance they were all willing to take. After all, evolution was one of the most exciting parts of growing up, and figuring out the secrets of the mysterious eeveelutions could be the adventure of a lifetime. It was worth the risk.


	3. Rescue Mission

  
Not far from the wooded area where Eevee and his friends would gather, there was a small rock formation with raised plateaus hewn into the sides of its cliffs. A deep river had once flowed through the region long ago, but now it was dusty and dry and only the out carving of the riverbed remained. Many of the flat surfaces were unshaded, allowing fire Pokémon to bask in sunlight for all of the daytime hours, and many Pokémon had burrowed into the sides of the cliff over the years, building small caves to protect themselves from rainfall. Overall, it was the ideal home for many rock and fire type Pokémon.

While it may have been a nice home most of the time, one such cave felt like a prison to its current occupant. Charmander was alone, high above the ground in a little burrow in the cliff side. There was a flat surface just outside the opening so he could go out and sun himself if he wanted to. Without wings or any advanced climbing skills, however, he was trapped up on the rocky ledge.

The reason for his imprisonment was very simple. When his father, Charizard, learned of the adventure he and his friends had gone on Halloween night, he had been grounded and forbidden to leave. And to make sure his son did not try to sneak out, Charizard had picked him up and flow him up to the ledge.

Charmander sighed as he stepped out of the dark cave into the harsh daylight. He squinted and covered his eyes with one hand as he looked out over the dry, rocky canyon. It was not a terribly long way down to the ground, but it was not a jump he was willing to make, and he did not exactly possess the skills and coordination to scale the side of the cliff. He wished he had not confessed his transgressions to his father, knowing that now each of his friends would also end up in a world of trouble with their parents as soon as they found out. He wondered if they would ever speak to him again.

"Hey! Hey, Charmander!" a voice suddenly called out from below.

Surprised, Charmander looked over the ledge at the two pokemon standing in the valley below.

"Bulbasaur?" he asked, genuinely shocked to see his friends. "Eevee? What are you guys doing here?"

"We're busting you out!" Bulbasaur exclaimed. "We've got a new quest we need to go on!"

Charmander perked up at the idea of going out on a new quest, but his mood instantly fell again. "I can't do that you guys. I'm in enough trouble as it is. Besides, I can't get down from here."

"We'll get you down!" Eevee said, wagging his fluffy tail in excitement. "You've gotta come with us!"

The fire lizard shook his head. "There's nothing we could do that could possibly be worth risking getting grounded even longer."

"Nothing?" Eevee asked mischievously. "Not even evolving?"

"Evolving?"

"Yep!" Bulbasaur called up to her friend. "Eevee's mom told him about a place called Stone Town, and it's filled with elemental stones that make Pokémon evolve!"

Charmander looked intrigued but hesitant. "All Pokemon? Even us?"

"I don't see why not," Eevee said. "All my older brothers and sisters were able to do it. I don't see why we wouldn't be able to."

"I don't know…" Charmander said. "What if they only work on eevee? I mean you guys evolve… kinda different than the rest of us."

"Come on, Charmander," Eevee called back, getting impatient. "you would really rather stay up in that nest if there was a chance that you could come with us and evolve into a charmeleon instead?"

The lizard Pokémon thought about it for a moment and sighed. "Fine. I'll come with you. But unless you guys can help me find a way down from here, I'm afraid it's not happening."

"No problem!" Eevee said with a wag of his tail. "I've got that all figured out." He turned to his companion. "Bulbasaur, use your vine whip to get Charmander down from there!"

"My… what?" The plant Pokémon looked confused.

"You know," Eevee said, suddenly less sure of himself than he had been moments before. "Your vine whip… you can pick stuff up with your vines… right?"

"I know what vine whip is," Bulbasaur retorted. "I just don't think my vines are long enough to pick up Fire-Butt and carry him down from there."

"Yeah, Eevee," Charmander concurred. "Bulbasaur has vines but I don't think she can get me all the way up here and bring me down."

Eevee thought for a moment, one of his big ears twitching as he tried to figure out a solution. "Well, what if she didn't have to reach that high? If you jumped down, she could grab you out of the air and—"

"No way!" Charmander exclaimed, folding his arms and staring at the puppy Pokémon. "I am not trusting Bulbasaur to be able to do that."

"He's got a good point, Eevee," Bulbasaur said, looking over to her friend. "I wouldn't trust myself to be able to catch him." She turned to look up at Charmander standing alone on the high ledge. "There's gotta be some way to get him down."

"One that doesn't involve falling," Charmander added.

Eevee's big ears twitched as he continued to think. He had not planned for anything other than Bulbasaur's vines, and he had not accounted for just how high up Charmander was. It would have been a lot easier to get him down if one of them was a flying or ground type Pokémon, but that was not the case. After a moment, Eevee looked around at the side of the cliff and noticed that there were other ledges like the one Charmander was on, and some of them were even close enough for him to jump to. He suddenly had another idea.

"Okay, Charmander," he said, looking up at the lizard. "See that platform right there?" He pointed with his front paw to a platform just under the one on which Charmander was trapped. "Think you can jump to that one?"

The fire Pokémon peered down over the side of the ledge and thought about it. "I think I can make that jump."

"Awesome!" Eevee's ears perked up. "There are a couple more like that too below it. All you have to do is jump down enough platforms to where Bulbasaur's vines will reach you." Then he turned to the plant Pokémon and pointed to the lowest platform. "Think your vines are long enough to reach that one?"

Bulbasaur nodded. "Most definitely. Ha! Looks like this mission might still be a success after all!" She looked up to the fire lizard and grinned. "Okay Fire-Butt, you know what to do!"

Charmander looked hesitantly at the platform below him for a while before he finally took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and jumped down to it. It was not a terribly long drop, but he yelped as he jumped. Fortunately, he managed to land comfortably on his feet, but it took him a little while to open his eyes again.

"Good job, Charmander!" Eevee called up to him. "Just a couple more and we can get you!"

Charmander grunted, but he looked down at the next platform and knew what he had to do. Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, he jumped again. This time, however, he did not yelp.

"This isn't so bad!" he called down as he looked toward the final platform he needed to jump to. "Get ready, Bulbasaur!"

He did not have to close his eyes this time as he mad the jump to the lowest ledge with ease. As he looked over the side of it, he grinned at his friends.

"Okay!" Bulbasaur called out, her vines extending from the sides of the massive bulb on her back. "Get ready, Fire-Butt!" Her face looked very serious as she tired to focus on reaching out with her vines and wrapping them around the fire Pokémon. She knew how to use vine whip attacks, but she had only just learned recently, so it still felt very awkward trying to pick up a whole Pokémon. After a little trying, she was able to wrap her vines securely around Charmander.

"Do you feel secure?" Eevee called up to his friend.

Charmander wiggled a little bit. "They're a little tight, but it works!"

Eevee turned to Bulbasaur and bounced excitedly.

Bulbasaur, however, was less excited. As she lifted Charmander off the ledge, her grip felt shaky at best. As she had him in the air and began to lower him down, she felt like she didn't have proper control. He felt very heavy and she realized her vines were not strong enough to carry him in a controlled manner that high above her head. For a few seconds, the rescue seemed to go smoothly enough as she tried to slowly lower Charmander to the ground. At some point, however, her vines gave out, and within seconds the fire lizard came crashing down. He yelped as he fell to the ground, landing squarely on top of Bulbasaur and knocking her down with him.

As he sat up, the fire Pokémon rubbed his back and looked down to find that he was sitting on top of the plant Pokémon. "Heh," Charmander said, touching his head nervously. "Thanks for breaking my fall, Bulb."

Bulbasaur looked up at him and grunted before she stood up, shaking him off her back in the process.

"You guys okay?" Eevee asked, looking genuinely concerned. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize that—"

"We're fine," Bulbasaur said, dismissing his worries with a flick of her vine. "Takes more than that to keep me down. Besides, the important thing is we rescued Fire-Butt and need to get back to meet Squirtle before Charizard comes home and finds he's gone."

Eevee nodded. "Good idea."

Charmander agreed, and the three little pokemon quickly set off to go back to their meeting spot in the woods. A nervous excitement filled them as they ran off. They were breaking the rules again, and no one wanted to get caught, but soon they would be in Stone Town and they would all be able to evolve. More than anyone else, however, Eevee was looking forward to reaching their destination. He was finally going to evolve like his older siblings, and he was going to figure out how to become an umbreon.


	4. All Through the Night

The warm daylight faded as night set in the little forest. Eevee and his friends met at their spot in the woods at sundown as planned and set out in the direction of the mysterious Stone Town. They started out at a quick pace, almost running at times as they tried to put distance between themselves and their families before anyone could notice they were missing. They were well away from their neck of the woods by the time the sun disappeared completely and the stars became visible in the pitch-dark night sky.

As the waning moon cast its soft silver light over the long, winding road before them, the four friends slowed their pace to a walk. They knew it would be a long time before they came across the village Flareon had told her son about, and they did not want to burn themselves out so early on in the trip. They walked for most of the night, barely stopping to rest. Only once did they pause to gather and enjoy some berries from nearby bushes, and then they went straight back to their journey.

The road they traveled was well worn by people and Pokémon traveling along it through the years. It was dusty and unpaved, and similar forests lined its edges. After a while, however, they found that the forests came to an end and the dirt path continued on through what appeared to be a vast hilly field. It made them a bit nervous to travel through such an open area because it would provide them with nowhere to hide should they chance upon a trainer, but the night was young and they were full of energy so they continued on. They figured they would come across another forest eventually and could hide there if they saw a trainer.

But the hilly field did not end for miles, and the path meandered up and down the sides of the hills. The upward inclines were not much at first, but after a while the four little Pokémon began to tire out. As the first rays of orange sunlight began to peak over the horizon, they were exhausted and plodding along at a snail's pace. When they finally reached the end of the field, they were all but ready to collapse, but much to their chagrin, there was no forest on the other side. Instead, there was a small mountain surrounded by a dry, rocky area. The only place to hide was behind the large boulders that punctuated the landscape, but they did not provide much cover.

"Hey, Eevee," Charmander called a few minutes into their trek across the rocky terrain, "you think maybe we could sit and rest for a while? We've been traveling all night, and I don't know how much farther we have to go, but I'm tired."

The puppy Pokémon's ears twitched. His instincts told him to continue on, but even he was dragging his paws at this point. "That's not a bad idea, Char. What do you guys think?"

Bulbasaur yawned as she gazed out over the boulders. "You don't have to ask me twice." Without bothering to coordinate with her friends, the dinosaur Pokémon sauntered casually off the trail and hid herself behind one of the large rocks.

Squirtle stared at her as she wandered off. "Seems like kind of a dangerous place to stop. We really should try to find somewhere with more cover…"

"Oh come on," Charmander said, stretching and yawning as he picked out his own boulder to hide behind. "We've been traveling all night and haven't come across a single trainer. Maybe they don't come this way that often."

"I don't know," the turtle continued hesitantly, but the lizard had walked off just as Bulbasaur had and disappeared behind one of the many stones.

"Don't worry, Squirtle," Eevee said, stifling a yawn. "We're just gonna rest a few minutes. None of us will fall asleep. If a trainer does come by, we'll stay really quiet, and we can always run away. We should be fine."

"Er…" Squirtle hesitated, but after a while, he relented. He was just as tired as everyone else. "Okay, I guess so."

Despite what Eevee had said, as soon as all four of the little Pokémon had found their hiding places, they fell deep asleep. They slept for a few hours as the sun rose higher and higher into the sky. Morning had nearly faded into noon by the time Eevee's ear twitched.

The fluffy Pokémon could hear something, but he was not sure what. Something told him to wake up, however, and his eyes barely snapped open in time to see what was rushing at him.

"Cubone!" A human voice called from not far away, "use bone club!"

"CUBONE!" the ground Pokémon yelled as it rushed at Eevee.

The puppy Pokémon barely had time to dodge before the cubone swung its bone club where he had been previously.

"Guys, wake up!" Eevee shouted as he got into a pouncing position ready to face the cubone. He launched into a quick attack but the other Pokémon dodged, pivoted, and retaliated with a headbutt. Eevee didn't have time to move as the headbutt slammed him full force and threw him back several feet. He tumbled to the ground and laid there, dazed for a moment as he stared at the approaching cubone.

However, the one he should have been watching was the trainer, because no sooner was Eevee on the ground than the human female threw a red and white pokéball at the little Pokémon. Eevee only noticed the pokéball as it was coming at him, and he did not have time to dodge out of the way.

However, something fast and green quickly whipped the pokéball out of the air, causing it to fall to the ground, open and useless. Eevee looked up to see Bulbasaur standing between him and the cubone, her vines out and ready for battle.

"All right!" the human girl yelled. "A bulbasaur! We're just finding all the best Pokémon today, eh Cubone?"

But Bulbasaur was not excited as she stared down the ground Pokémon, waiting for him to make a move. They stood locked in a glaring stalemate for a few moments before Cubone quickly made a move. Charging forward once more, he had his bone club attack ready for Bulbasaur. But unlike Eevee, the plant Pokémon did not try to dodge. Instead, she stood her ground, and as Cubone rushed at her, she lashed out one of her vines, whipping it forward with lightning speed as she used it to grab the bone club and pull it straight out of Cubone's hand.

"Cubone!" the Pokémon yelled as Bulbasaur's other vine whipped out and stuck the ground Pokémon. As he fell backwards, the grass type finished him off with a tackle attack.

"Ah!" the trainer gasped, pulling a pokéball from her belt. "Cubone, return!" A red light shot out of the ball and enveloped the fainted cubone as he disappeared back into the pokéball. "Sorry about that, Cubone, but I am not letting these Pokémon get away!" Grabbing another pokéball, she threw it toward where Eevee now stood beside Bulbasaur. "Go, Charmeleon!"

As the pokéball opened, a red light emerged and formed into a charmeleon. The red fiery Pokémon towered over Bulbasaur and Eevee as they slowly backed away from it.

"Th-that's a charmeleon!" Bulbasaur stammered, her eyes wide. "That's the evolved form of Charmander!"

Eevee knew what she meant. As a grass type Pokémon, Bulbasaur would be weak against Charmeleon. He stepped in front of her as she continued to back away. He was about to try a tackle attack when suddenly he saw something that made him grin. A stream of bubbles was headed straight for Charmeleon as Squirtle and Charmander appeared, rushing to their friends' rescue.

"Bubble!" Squirtle yelled as he used the water attack against the large fire Pokémon. Even Bulbasaur felt herself relax knowing how strong water attacks were against fire Pokémon.

But Charmeleon simply scoffed at Squirtle's attack, brushing the little bubbles away with one swipe of his razor sharp claws. "Pathetic," the fire Pokémon said, in a deep gravely voice. "If bubble is the only attack you know, you should just quit while you're ahead."

"Oh my gosh!" the trainer squeed triumphantly, unable to comprehend what the Pokémon were saying to one another. "Even more new friends to catch! This is so exciting!"

Squirtle stared at the tall fire Pokémon, his expression angry and determined. "That's not all I've got! Take this! Water gun!"

The tiny turtle Pokémon took a deep breath, and for the tiniest second a look of concern flashed through Charmeleon's eyes. The epic moment was short lived, however, because no sooner did the stream of water begin to shoot from Squirtle's mouth then it trickled off, all of it falling flat and missing Charmeleon by nearly a yard. Squirtle looked up in embarrassment as everyone stared at him.

"Is that all?" Charmeleon said in his deep voice. "This battle is as good as over." Sucking in a burst of air, he opened his mouth wide and yelled "Flamethrower!" A mighty blast of fire rushed from him, heading straight toward Squirtle and Charmander, but the big Pokémon faltered when something hit him hard from behind.

"Guys, run!" Eevee called to his friends as he jumped away from Charmeleon after landing a tackle straight into his back. The puppy Pokémon got into pouncing position and readied himself for a quick attack as Charmander, Bulbasaur and Squirtle scampered away. They knew Eevee was the fastest runner, likely the only one who could outrun Charmeleon, and he was buying them time before he made his own escape.

"You'll regret that, runt," Charmeleon said as he set his full focus on Eevee and sucked in another breath of air. "Flamethrower!"

The flames shot out at Eevee but the little Pokémon used his agility and dodged the blasts. As Charmeleon changed directions, Eevee kept dodging the blasts, but as the battlefield began to heat up, he was not sure how much longer he could keep it up for.

"We've almost got him, Charmeleon!" the trainer called as Eevee was tiring out. "Finish him with a fire blast!"

"Char!" the fire Pokémon growled ominously as a ball of fire began to form in his mouth.

Eevee was so tired he was panting heavily and knew he would not be able to escape the powerful attack. As the fire blast shot forward, he braced himself for the impact, but it never came. Instead, he felt something rope-like wrap around him and pull him out of the way up the blast. As Charmeleon's attack exploded against a rock, Eevee looked up to see Bulbasaur had rescued him with her vine whip.

"We've gotta run, Eevee!" she yelled as she turned tail and fled.

The fluffy Pokémon followed her, having no trouble keeping up. He knew Bulbasaur was not a very fast runner thanks to the massive bulb on her back.

"Follow them, Charmeleon!" the trainer yelled as the fire Pokémon began to pursue them. Squirtle and Charmander were farther ahead, but Charmeleon was gaining on Eevee and Bulbasaur quickly. Eevee knew he could easily outrun Charmeleon, but that would mean leaving Bulbasaur behind, and she would not hold up to the fiery attacks. He needed a plan.

As they got closer to the foot of the small mountain, Eevee noticed little cliffs not unlike the ones they had rescued Charmander from earlier. Not far ahead, there was one cliff that looked like it had a tree growing out of it. Squirtle and Charmander were so far ahead that he could no longer see where they went, but he had an idea.

"Bulbasaur," he called, "see that tree up there on that cliff?"

"Y-yeah," the plant Pokémon called as she struggled to get her stocky legs to run despite her large body.

"Do you think you can use your vines to grab onto that tree and pull yourself up?" the fluffy Pokémon asked as they got closer to it.

Bulbasaur looked up at the tree and somehow managed to pick up her pace as she ran toward it. "Never done anything like that before, but I can try!"

With a look of fierce determination, the plant Pokémon ran for the cliff with the tree, and as soon as she was in range, she whipped out her vines as far as she could and wrapped them around the tree. Then, with all the strength she could muster, she jumped toward it, pulling herself as hard as she could with her vines, but she knew as soon as she tried that she would never reach it.

She almost got discouraged until she felt something ram into her from below, sending her flying a few feet higher into the air, just enough so that she had the momentum she need to pull herself toward the tree and land on the platform.

"I did it!" she yelled as she looked down at Eevee who had tackled her from below. The puppy Pokémon grinned as he looked back at the approaching Charmeleon and scampered away. No longer having to keep pace with Bulbasaur, he was able to easily outrun the Charmeleon until he was out of sight.

As Charmeleon and his trainer stared up in frustration at Bulbasaur on the cliff and out of their reach, they looked defeated. Looking around one last time for the other three Pokémon, the trainer eventually sighed and gave up.

"Charmeleon, return," she said dully as she pointed the pokéball at him and he disappeared into it. "I guess I should have known better than to get my hopes up about catching four rare Pokémon in one day." Sadly, she turned around and left.

Bulbasaur breathed a sigh of relief as she flopped down onto her belly and watched the trainer walk away. She almost felt bad for her in a way, knowing how excited Pikachu and her trainer got every time they caught a new Pokémon. It must have been difficult to miss out on four at once. But she also knew she didn't want to be captured and have to leave her family, not at this point anyway.

After a while of waiting to be sure the trainer was really gone, Bulbasaur wrapped her vines back around the tree and lowered herself gently to the ground. She was ready to start looking for her scattered friends so they could continue on their quest.

 


	5. Stone Town

 

“Wow, Bulbasaur!” Eevee said as the four little Pokémon regrouped. “You were pretty great back there. You’re getting really good at using vine whip.”

Charmander nodded. “Yeah. I hadn’t realized. You really mastered that move.”

Bulbasaur blushed as she pawed the ground. “Thanks guys. I’ve been practicing a lot…”

Squirtle folded his arms and looked away from his friends. “Guys, it’s not that complicated of an attack. It’s really basic.”

“So is water gun,” Charmander said, rolling his eyes, “but you don’t have that one down yet.”

“That’s different!” Squirtle snapped, putting his hands on his hips as he stared down the fire lizard.

“It just takes practice,” Bulbasaur cut in, stepping between the turtle and the lizard and trying to dispel the mounting tension. “If you want, we can practice sometime.”

“You just want to spar with me because you know you’ll win! You’re a grass type, and I’m a water type. That’s not fair.”

“By that logic,” Charmander said, looking around, “the only one it’s fair for any of us to spar with is Eevee since he’s the only one that doesn’t have a type advantage or disadvantage.”

The puppy Pokémon grinned. “Not for long. As soon as I evolve, I’ll have a type, and then battling will get really interesting.”

Squirtle looked over to Eevee, relaxing his stance a little. “Hey Eevee, what kind of Pokémon is Umbreon anyway?”

“Hmm?” the puppy Pokémon’s ears perked up. “I…. I’m really not sure. That’s part of the mystery.”

“Well, that’s gonna make things difficult,” Bulbasaur said. “How will you know which elemental stone to use to become an umbreon if you don’t know what type of Pokémon it is?”

Eevee’s tail twitched as he thought about it. “I guess I just figure I’ll know it when I see it. That’s how I knew I wanted to be an umbreon. Besides, Umbreon was a whole new kind of Pokémon we’d never seen before. So maybe he was a whole new elemental type as well!”

“New elemental type?” Bulbasaur shook her head. “That sounds unlikely. Espeon was a psychic type, and she was a new kind of Pokémon too. Maybe Umbreon was also a psychic type?”

“No,” Eevee replied, thoughtfully pressing a paw to his face. “No two eeveelutions are the same type. And he wasn’t a ghost type… at least, I don’t think he was. And he didn’t seem like a poison type.”

“Definitely wasn’t a grass, fighting, ground, or rock type,” Squirtle added. “Maybe if we figure out what kind of stones there are, we can figure out what type of Pokémon he was?”

“Good idea, Squirtle,” Eevee said as his fluffy tail began to wag. “I know there are fire, water, and thunder stones. There’s a leaf stone too… I think there are others, but I don’t know what they are.”

“Oh!” Bulbasaur jumped up and grinned. “I just remembered something. Pikachu’s trainer had a jigglypuff at one point and evolved it into a wigglytuff using something called a moon stone!”

“Moon stone?” Squirtle asked curiously. “What does that mean? Isn’t jigglypuff a normal type?”

“I think so,” Eevee said, his ears twitching as he processed the idea. “But jiggypuff isn’t like a regular normal type… It’s more like clefairy I think. Maybe… they’re moon types?”

“Moon type?” Bulbasaur tilted her head. “Never heard of that, but I mean… I guess it makes sense. And Umbreon seemed really dark and like a nighttime Pokémon or something. So maybe he was a moon type? Or a night type? Oh my gosh, guys, did we just discover a new kind of Pokémon?”

“Not likely,” Squirtle scoffed. “If jigglypuff are moon types it’s definitely not new or rare.”

“Unless no one knew what to call it before,” Charmander added. “I bet clefairy, jigglypuff, and umbreon are all moon types.”

“So,” Eevee said, “when we get to Stone Town, the stone we need to get is a moon stone!”

“Awesome!” Bulbasaur grinned.

Charmander grinned as well as Eevee wagged his tail excitedly. Only Squirtle looked annoyed, but the turtle Pokémon did not say anything as they started back on their way to Stone Town.

Since they had walked most of the night, it did not take much longer to get to Stone Town. The rocky, mountainous area was not too hard to traverse, and there were plenty of paths between the mountains. It was only about midday when they came across a small town at the foot of a ridge. There was a large mountain behind it, larger than any of the others they had seen so far, but the town itself looked small and fairly wealthy. Eevee and friends were careful to keep out of sight as they peeked over the ridge and surveyed the town for a while.

There was an ornate stone fountain in the middle of what looked like the public square, and there were a lot of people and Pokémon walking around outside. It was a green, grassy town, and there was a small patch of woods off to one side. The four little Pokémon were amazed to see the number of fully evolved, powerful Pokémon that lived in the area. They saw raichu, ninetails, vileplume, and others. Seeing all of the evolved Pokémon excited them, and they were sure they were in the right place.

“This is it,” Eevee whispered to the others. “This is Stone Town!”

“This is so great!” Charmander said, looking at all of the powerful fire Pokémon. “We’re finally going to evolve!”

Squirtle didn’t say anything, but he looked out at some of the water Pokémon, determined to get his hands on a water stone and evolve. He was still embarrassed about how badly his water gun attack had failed in the battle against Charmeleon. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was jealous of Bulbasaur and her mastery of the vine whip attack. While it was true that she had practiced considerably more than he had, he could not help feeling the way he did. If he could get a water stone, he reasoned, he could evolve into a wartortle, and then he would be a lot more powerful and his attacks would work better. He knew Bulbasaur would also be looking for a stone to use to evolve, but Squirtle was not so sure she needed one. Given how strong her attack was, he would not have been surprised if she was getting close enough to the level where she would evolve naturally.

“So,” Bulbasaur asked, looking over at Eevee, “where are the stones, and how do we get to them without being seen by any trainers?”

“Yeah,” Charmander added, “especially in a town like this where I’m sure they’d love to get their hands on an Eevee.”

The puppy Pokémon grinned as he looked out over the town to the mountain in the distance. “If memory serves correctly, they mine their stones from the mountain over there. So all we have to do is go around the edge of the town and get to the mountain. Then we can look for clues about where to find the stones.”

“Good idea,” Bulbasaur said, nudging Squirtle with one of her vines. “See, Squirtle? We might be evolved before the sun sets!”

The turtle Pokémon brushed off his friend’s vine as he shrugged. “Yeah.”

Bulbasaur frowned, not sure why the turtle was being so moody, but she didn’t have time to think about it before they started walking again. They were careful to stay in the rocky areas outside the town, far out of view of anyone who might be passing by. Eevee led the way with Bulbasaur and Charmander right behind him. Squirtle took up the rear, quietly kicking a rock as he went. He didn’t know why it bothered him so bad that Bulbasaur’s attack had worked but his hadn’t. He knew she worked hard to perfect her technique, but he was mad at himself for not working as hard.

The turtle Pokémon was so lost in thought that he nearly crashed into his friends when they stopped at the foot of the mountain.

“This is it!” Eevee exclaimed as they all looked up at the towering mountain above. “This is where the stones are.”

Charmander grinned as Bulbasaur bounced excitedly. Squirtle just smirked to himself. If he could evolve before Bulbasaur did, he might be able to challenge her to a battle and actually win for once despite the type disadvantage.

“Eevee,” Charmander said, pointing to something in the distance, “look over there!”

The puppy Pokémon’s ears perked up as he saw what looked like a mining cart stopped on a track that led into a cave at the base of the mountain. As everyone else noticed it as well, the four friends ran toward it as quickly and quietly as they could. Eevee made it there first, but Squirtle was the first on to jump up and climb into the cart.

“Squirtle!” Charmander called up. “What do you see in there?”

The turtle Pokémon looked out over the side of the mining cart and grinned. “We’ve hit the jackpot guys! This thing is filled with elemental stones! You better stay back, Eevee! You don’t want to evolve into the wrong thing by accident!”

“Gotcha!” Eevee called back, taking a couple of steps backward to avoid being exposed to the wrong stones.

“Charmander, catch!” Squirtle yelled as he tossed a fire stone to the lizard Pokémon.

“Got it!” Charmander jumped up and caught it.

Squirtle came upon a leaf stone in the pile of stones and hesitated for a moment. There were plenty of water stones as well, but if he gave the leaf stone to Bulbasaur, she might evolve into Ivysaur before he had a chance to battle her, and then he’d never stand a chance at winning.

“Hurry up, Squirtle!” Eevee yelled. “We don’t want to get caught!”

Setting aside his pride, the turtle Pokémon snatched up the leaf stone and threw it to his friend. “Bulbasaur, catch!”

A vine shot out and grabbed the leaf stone midair as Bulbasaur pulled it close to her. “Got it!”

Squirtle picked up a water stone, but as he looked around the cart, he could not find a single moon stone in the pile. He looked for a little while before giving up and climbing down to join is friends on the ground.

“Sorry, Eevee,” he said. “I couldn’t find anything that looked like it might be a moon stone in there.”

Eevee frowned but seemed to brush it off quickly. “That’s okay. I’m sure we’ll find one later. Right now, you guys just focus on evolving!”

Squirtle nodded as he looked down at his water stone. He suddenly realized he had no idea what to do with it, previously having thought it would just come to him instinctively. But as he held it, the stone lay in his hands, inert and powerless. Nothing was happening. He looked up to see that Bulbasaur and Charmander were also staring at their stones in confusion.

“You getting anything, Char?” the plant Pokémon asked.

Charmander shook his head. “No… it’s not doing anything.”

“Maybe they’re duds,” Squirtle said as he tried shaking his stone but to no avail. It remained powerless, nothing more than a pretty blue rock.

“Hey you kids!” a voice called out suddenly, and all four friends jumped as they turned to see a Jolteon standing behind them. “What do you think you’re doing here? Are you stealing stones?”

“No!” Charmander yelped as he unceremoniously tried to throw his fire stone back into the cart, but he missed and it bounced off, falling to the floor. “No one’s trying to steal stones here!”

“Smooth move, Fire Butt,” Bulbasaur muttered as Jolteon stared at Charmander’s discarded stone.

Jolteon stared at Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle as the three little Pokémon stepped closer together. “What do you three even want stones for anyway? Don’t tell me you thought they would help you evolve!”

“We did,” Eevee said as he stepped between his friends and the Jolteon. “We came here to Stone Town so we could use the elemental stones to evolve.”

One of Jolteon’s ears twitched curiously. “That makes sense for you, kid, but not the other three. Their species can’t use stones to evolve. They have to level up the old fashioned way.”

Charmander’s jaw dropped, and Squirtle looked like he suddenly had a stomachache. “Oh man,” the lizard Pokémon said, looking even more nervous, “my dad is going to kill me for coming out here, and I’m not even gonna get to evolve to prove to him I’m an adult!”

Jolteon laughed. “You guys really didn’t think this through, did you?” Turning to Eevee, he nodded and gestured toward the cart. “You though, Eevee, you can pick one out. I won’t tell anyone. I know what this means for an Eevee, and if you’re ready to evolve, I won’t stand in your way. So what will it be? Which stone do you want?”

Eevee grinned and wagged his tail mischievously. “I want a moon stone! I’m going to evolve into Umbreon!”

Jolteon looked surprised at first, but then his looked turned to one of annoyance. “If that’s what you think, you’re obviously not ready to evolve. Get out of Stone Town and go back to wherever you came from, kid.”


	6. A Pokémon Battle!

"What?" Eevee was shocked as he stared at Jolteon. They were still all standing at the opening of the elemental stone mines by one of the stone carts. "I can't go back! I won't go back! I came to Stone Town to evolve, just like my brothers and sisters did, and I'm not leaving until I get my moon stone!"

Jolteon eyed the little Pokémon curiously. "You really think a moon stone will evolve you into an umbreon? Kid, did you ever wonder why you only ever see three eeveelutions around these parts?"

"Um… I don't know." Eevee wondered why he had not thought of that sooner. Perhaps evolving into an umbreon was not as simple as becoming a flareon, vaporeon, or jolteon. "Are there no moon stones around here?"

Jolteon rolled his eyes. "We've got moon stones. They're rare, but we've got them. But hey, you know about umbreon? So I'm guessing you know about espeon, too, right? If you think you use a moon stone to become an umbreon, what do you think turns you into an espeon?"

"Um…" Eevee thought about it for a moment. "Maybe… a sun stone?"

"No way!" Bulbasaur called out. "Espeon is a psychic type. It would have to be a psychic stone!"

"Yeah," Squirtle added. "There's no sun-type Pokémon."

Jolteon put a paw to his face and shook his head. "You kids know these Pokémon exist, but you really don't know anything about them, do you?"

"Well if you're so knowledgeable," Bulbasaur said, her tone getting huffy, "why don't you just tell us about them? We've been doing the best we can going off of what little information we have, but if you know more, please tell us!"

Jolteon sighed. "I guess you're also going to ask me about all of the other eeveelutions, too?"

"Other eeveelutions?" Eevee's ears perked up as he took a step forward. "There are even more?"

"Me and my big mouth…" Jolteon shook his head. "Yeah, there are more. Lots more. I don't know about all of them but… there's another Pokémon. Lives up the mountain in a little hut with his trainer. He's old, one of the oldest Pokémon I've ever met. And rumor has it he's been everywhere. All over Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, you name it. He could tell you about all of the eeveelutions much better than I could."

Eevee's tail wagged eagerly. "And you think he'd actually tell us?"

Jolteon nodded. "Assuming you can find him."

"What kind of Pokémon is he?" Bulbasaur asked.

"Oh," Jolteon replied with a wicked smirk, "you'll know him when you see him. I'll let you get going, but don't let me catch you kids back here stealing anymore stones!"

With that cryptic comment, the electric Pokémon turned and dashed away. The four little Pokémon stared in the direction he went, all looking very confused.

"What does he mean," Bulbasaur asked, "when he says we'll know the Pokémon when we see him?"

"And how many more eeveelutions are there?" Charmander asked, stepping forward and willing to speak up now that Jolteon was gone.

Bulbasaur grinned and bounced excitedly. "I bet there's one of every type! All of the eeveelutions!"

"Hey Eevee," Squirtle said, turning to the puppy Pokémon, "if there are even more eeveelutions out there, are you sure you're still gonna wanna become an umbreon? What if you find a better one to evolve into?"

"Like Ghosteon!" Charmander added.

Squirtle rolled his eyes. "We've been down this road already. There is no Ghosteon!"

Charmander frowned. "But Bulbasaur just said there's one of every type."

"Maybe," the plant Pokémon replied. "I said maybe there's one of every type. Big difference!"

"But seriously, Eevee," Squirtle continued, looking up at the tall mountain above the mines, "are you sure you're still going to want to become an umbreon once you learn all the other options?"

"I think I will," Eevee replied, looking at his friend and then up at the mountain. "Whatever we find up there… whatever this wise old Pokémon says, I know I want to be an umbreon. I just feel it. I felt it the moment we met Espeon and Umbreon up at Pokémon Tower. This is my destiny."

The tiny turtle nodded. "I guess that makes sense. I always wondered how you guys picked what you evolved into. I guess a feeling makes as much sense as anything else. No regrets afterward."

With a renewed spirit and sense of adventure, the four friends began the next leg of their quest, following the long, winding trail up the side of the mountain. The path itself was rocky and treacherous, and in some places, it was so narrow they had to walk single file just so they would all fit.

However, Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle were still disappointed that their attempts at evolution had not worked, and they were worried about what they would tell their parents when they got home. But they decided to try to bury those feelings for now and focus on what lay ahead. They were going to learn about all of the new eeveelutions, Pokémon they had never even dreamed existed. Bulbasaur wondered if she would find out that there was a grass type like her since there were already fire and water types.

The higher they climbed, the colder it got. By halfway up the side of the mountain, there was a distinctive chill in the air, and the four little Pokémon all huddled close to Charmander's flame for warmth as they kept going. They had not expected it to be nearly this cold. It felt almost unnatural.

After hours of climbing, they could see the sun starting to set off in the distance and worried about how they would find shelter or stay warm for the night. They were all exhausted from walking uphill and all of the other adventures of the past two days. They were just thinking of stopping when suddenly a massive gray boulder rolled down the side of the mountain and landed right in front of them.

All four little Pokémon jumped back in shock, narrowly avoiding the massive boulder. But even more shocking was what happened next. The boulder opened its eyes and stared at them as it stood up and four arms sprouted from its sides.

"Who dares trespass on my mountain?" the boulder demanded.

"That's a Graveler!" Charmander yelped as he ducked behind Squirtle.

"We do," Eevee said, taking the initiative to step forward. "We were told by Jolteon that there was a wise old Pokémon that lived on this mountain, and we want to meet him."

Graveler stared Eevee down. He was massive in comparison to the puppy Pokémon. "You must be speaking of one of my trainer's other Pokémon. We're the only ones who live on this mountain!"

Eevee wagged his tale eagerly. "So you know him? That's great! Will you take us to him?"

Graveler laughed and assumed a fighting stance. "Of course I will. But only if you can defeat me in a battle!"

Though he was normally a fairly brave little Pokémon, Eevee gulped as he looked up at the massive rock Pokémon. There was no way his tackle attack was going to do anything against Graveler, and he wouldn't stand a chance in a battle. Still, if this was the only obstacle between him and finding out how to become an umbreon, he had to stand up to the challenge. Eevee was about to step forward when a long green vine shot out in front of him.

"Wait!" Bulbasaur called, running up to stand beside him. "You're a normal type, Eevee. Let me take on Graveler!"

"No way!" Squirtle shouted, jumping in front of Bulbasaur. "This battle is mine!"

The tiny turtle would never admit it aloud, but the idea of being saved by Bulbasaur again bothered him. He wanted to prove he was every bit as capable of a fighter as she was.

Graveler just looked amused as he regarded the four tiny Pokémon. "You can all join in the battle. I doubt even the four of you could take me!"

"All right then!" Eevee yelled as he dashed forward, starting off the battle with his Quick Attack.

Graveler did not even flinch as the puppy Pokémon struck him. In fact, the rock Pokémon seemed amused by the antic as he used one of his massive arms to swipe at Eevee, but the puppy Pokémon was too fast.

As the rock Pokémon was distracted, Squirtle fired off a round of his bubble attack, and while Graveler looked annoyed, it did not seem to faze him much. Instead, the rock Pokémon rolled back into a massive boulder and began rolling down the hill straight for the little Pokémon. Charmander and Squirtle were quick enough to dodge, but the bulky Bulbasaur could not make it out of the way in time as Graveler's tackle hit her full force. She yelled as she went flying off into the distance.

"Bulbasaur!" Squirtle yelled, not able to see if she had been hit off the side of the mountain or not. He turned to Graveler with a look of pure rage in his eyes. "Hey, you! That was my friend!"

"Yeah, kid?" the rock taunted. "What are you going to do about it?"

Squirtle went to use his bubble attack again, but this time he felt something else coming up, a power from deep inside he had never experienced before. As he opened his mouth to complete the attack, a powerful stream of water shot forth, pushing Graveler backward and slamming him into the mountain wall behind him.

"Squirtle!" Charmander yelled. "You did it! You used Water Gun!"

Squirtle grinned, the playing field finally leveling off for his friends, but the massive rock Pokémon was nowhere near defeated. With a wicked grin, Graveler rolled into a ball again, heading straight for Squirtle. The tiny turtle managed to dodge, but then one of Graveler's massive arms reached out and flung the turtle into the wall. As Squirtle landed, he sat slumped over by the side of the mountain, too dazed to move.

Irritated by the earlier attack, Graveler continued to advance on the dizzy Squirtle despite Eevee and Charmander's attempts to stop him. The normal and fire type attacks simply had no effect. Graveler was just about to finish Squirtle as he raised one massive stony arm, but his attack never landed.

To his shock, Graveler found his arm immobilized by a set of green vines that had shot out from behind him. As he turned around and tried to break free, one of the vines let go of his arm and whipped him right in the middle of his face.

"Bulbasaur!" Eevee shouted excitedly as he turned to see the plant Pokémon coming up behind them. "You made it!"

The rock Pokémon shouted as the vines began to rain blows all over him, and they were too fast for his heavy arms to swipe away. After she had landed a few good hits and weakened her foe, Bulbasaur decided it was time to finish the battle. With a mighty effort, she reared both vines back high over her head and brought them crashing down on the stunned Graveler. The rock Pokémon finally collapsed after her attack.

"We did it!" Eevee yelled, jumping up and wagging his tail as Charmander bent to help Squirtle stand up. Bulbasaur just remained in a fighting stance as she eyed Graveler.

Slowly, the rock Pokémon got to his feet as he locked eyes with Bulbasaur. "Wow, you kids are a lot stronger than I gave you credit for. You bested me in battle. I guess I have to let you through now."

"That's great!" Eevee said, his ears perked up excitedly.

"Ugh," Squirtle grunted, holding his head. "I hope your trainer has a potion or something…"

As Graveler turned to lead the way to his trainer's house, the little Pokémon began to follow him. Only Charmander hung back for a moment as he realized Bulbasaur had not moved from her fighting stance.

"Bulbasaur," he asked, "are you okay? Why are you— oh!"

Bulbasaur's body suddenly began to glow with a bright light, and all of the Pokémon turned to look at her in awe as her body transformed before their eyes. She grew larger suddenly as the bulb on her back opened up into a budding flower. Within moments, they realized they were no longer staring at a Bulbasaur.

"Oh my gosh," Charmander said, amazed at the transformation in their friend. "You just evolved into Ivysaur!"

Ivysaur looked around at her friends, grinning from ear to ear. "I can't believe it, you guys!" she exclaimed, her voice now a bit deeper than it had been before. "I can't believe I finally evolved!"

All at once the other three Pokémon rushed at her with questions.

"What was it like?"

"Did it hurt?"

"How do you feel now as an Ivysaur?"

"Woah, guys!" She said, holding up her vines playfully to get them to stop. "One thing at a time! I'm still getting used to this!"

"How marvelous," a voice called out suddenly as a new Pokémon walked toward them from the direction of Graveler's trainer's house. "It's not everyday one gets to witness the miracle of evolution."

Eevee's eyes grew wide as he watched the Pokémon approaching. He was definitely an old Pokémon, and he walked with a slow, dignified air, but he was unlike anything Eevee had ever seen before. Instinctively, the puppy Pokémon knew that this newcomer was another eeveelution, but he was definitely one of the new ones. He was blue like a vaporeon, but he was a much lighter blue and didn't have any fins. Instead, he had a tuft of hair on his head, two long ears and a series of darker blue diamond-shaped markings. His presence brought an icy chill to the air.

"Are you…" Eevee could barely get the words out of him mouth as the wise old Pokémon approached him.

"Don't worry, children," the old Pokémon said in his calming voice. "I'm not here to battle you. My name is Glaceon."


	7. How to Become an Umbreon!

"Glaceon," Eevee repeated, his eyes wide as he stared at the ancient Pokémon. "You're another eeveelution. One I've never seen before!"

Glaceon smiled down at the young pup. "I suppose you came here in search of me then? Looking for answers, perhaps? Come, Eevee. We have much to talk about."

Eevee looked back at his friends but Squirtle and Ivysaur waved him forward.

"It's cool, Eevee," the turtle Pokémon said. "We know this is what you came for. Maybe you'll get to evolve today too!"

Eevee grinned back at his friends before turning and following Glaceon. Together, the two Pokémon walked toward a small cottage near the edge of a cliff. It was a homey looking little place surrounded by lush green grass and a delightful garden full of flowers and vegetables. Eevee loved the smell of the freshly grown food mixed with the floral scents, and he suddenly understood why someone would want to live this high up on the mountain.

"So, Eevee," Glaceon began as they continued to walk through the tall grass, "what form are you seeking? Which evolution struck such a chord with you that you and your friends chose to travel all this way?"

Eevee looked down at his front paws as he walked. Part of him felt foolish for coming so far for an evolution he did not even understand, but something else about it felt right. "I want to become an Umbreon… but grown-up eeveelutions keep telling me it's a terrible idea. I met a Jolteon who got really annoyed when I mentioned it, and it really scared my mom at first."

"I see," Glaceon replied with a mysterious smile. "And yet you came here anyway? What does your mother think of your absence?"

"Well… she was upset at first, but then she told me that her father was also a mysterious eeveelution neither of us had ever heard of before." Eevee eyed Glaceon curiously. "My grandmother insisted my grandfather was just a very exotic vaporeon, but he was a light blue Pokémon with an icy aura… kind of like you."

"And Flareon sent you here to look for information on her father while you looked for answers about how to become an umbreon?"

Eevee blinked in surprise, but some of his suspicions were finally confirmed. "You knew my mother? You're him then… my grandfather."

Glaceon nodded. "I wondered if any of my descendants would ever come here to search me out. You are the first."

"But why did you leave?" Eevee asked, laying his ears back in annoyance. "My mother never knew what you were, and her mother died still insisting you were a vaporeon!"

Glaceon sighed and shook his head as the two Pokémon strolled through a bed of flowers tall enough to brush against their ears as they went. "There are many things about this world you still do not understand. The world is much bigger than you realize. There are so many things and other species of Pokémon beyond Kanto. I am from a land called Sinnoh, but I came here with my trainer many years ago."

"Sinnoh," Eevee repeated. "Are there a lot of other glaceon there?"

The old Pokémon shook his head. "We are rare, even in that region."

"How did you become a Glaceon then? Is there some kind of ice stone you can use to evolve?"

Glaceon laughed as he walked closer to the cliff and looked out over the valley as the orange light of the setting sun flooded the land. "Sort of. There's no ice stone like the elemental stones you're used to here in Kanto. If you'll listen, I'd be glad to tell you the story of how my trainer and I stumbled upon an Ice Rock though."

Eevee's eyes lit up as his tail began to wag. "Yes, please!"

"Very well then." Glaceon's icy eyes sparkled as he looked at Eevee and began his tale. "When I was but a young eevee pup, my trainer and I were traveling to a place called Snowpoint City. We had heard a rumor that a temple there was home to a legendary Pokémon, and we were both young and eager to investigate it ourselves. But it was very cold along the route to the city, and a nasty blizzard began to blow. We nearly froze as we frantically sought shelter. Rather than go into my pokéball, I huddled in my trainer's coat against his chest to try to keep him warm. He was only a boy then.

"We traveled a long time in the snow, whiteout conditions making it impossible to see where we were going. Finally, when he could no longer handle the icy blizzard, my trainer stumbled and fell into the snow. As he tried to get up, we were beset by a herd of swinub and a large piloswine. I tried to help him to his feet, but the snow was so deep, there was not much I could do. So as the piloswine charged at us, I charged back, attempting my quick attack.

"There was a short skirmish, but eventually they left us alone. I was exhausted and collapsed in the snow beside my trainer, but by that time he was on his feet. He lifted me into his arms and attempted to get me to go back into my pokéball, but I refused, intent on keeping him warm through the storm. So despite his own exhaustion, he carried me.

"Out of nowhere, we stumbled upon this massive rock that looked like it was made of pure ice crystals. I could feel an energy pulsing through it and within me as my trainer carried me and I huddled close to keep him warm. It was as though the stone were linked to our bond, and before I knew it, I felt an energy flowing through me and leapt from my trainer's arms. Before his eyes, I evolved into a Pokémon neither of us had ever seen before, the same Pokémon I am now. The cold from the storm could not harm me in the least, and I was able to lead my trainer to warmth and safety. We've been together ever since."

Glaceon looked to the small cottage affectionately.

"That's the difference, Eevee," the old Pokémon continued. "That's what separates the eeveelutions you are used to from the ones you're only just seeing for the first time. A trainer. A bond with a trainer. Wild eeveelutions fear their pups discovering and desiring these forms because they know it means an eevee must be captured and trained, possibly leaving its family forever. Flareon, jolteon, and vaporeon are safe forms. They only require the use of an elemental stone, so they are the only forms wild eevee learn about. That's why your grandmother banished me from the pack. To protect the pups and keep them from running off and looking for trainers."

Eevee pawed the ground timidly as his ear twitched. "Is it… is it nice having a trainer? I mean, my mother always warned me to stay away from humans because she did not want them to take me away."

"Having a trainer can be the most wonderful or most terrible thing in the world. Having a kind trainer like mine is amazing. We have a bond so powerful, it allowed me to evolve without the use of an elemental stone. But to have a cruel trainer… I pity the Pokémon who do."

"But if I want to become an umbreon, I need a trainer."

Glaceon nodded. "That is correct. Is it still worth it to you then?"

Eevee thought for a moment, suddenly much more conflicted than he had been earlier. He was certain he wanted to evolve into umbreon, but he was also afraid of ending up with the wrong trainer and never seeing his family again. "I think so… yes. I love my family, but I know I want to become an umbreon. It just feels right. I don't even know what type of Pokémon umbreon is, but I know that's what I need to become."

"Then it's only a matter of finding the right trainer. There are good humans out there, Eevee. Many more than you might realize, but there are many bad ones." Glaceon smiled knowingly. "And umbreon is a dark-type Pokémon. There aren't many dark-types in Kanto, but most umbreon I have known have come from an area called Johto where that sort of evolutionary practice is more common."

Eevee grinned, a new hope flooding through him. "Dark-type Pokémon. I like it!"

"If you find a trainer and are truly meant to become an umbreon, then when your bond is strongest, you will find that one night you evolve into an umbreon. Beyond that, there's no advice I have on how to achieve that form. Evolution can be a fickle thing."

"Not for me!" Eevee said with a grin. "I know I'm meant to be an umbreon, and if it means finding a trainer, that's what I'm gonna do!"

"Eevee!" a frantic voice called out suddenly as Eevee and Glaceon turned to see Squirtle running toward them. "Eevee! We've got trouble! Back there!"

The tiny turtle Pokémon was panting as he pointed back toward where he and the others had been. As Eevee and Glaceon turned and ran to see what the trouble was, Squirtle collapsed with exhaustion and pulled his blue body into his shell.

As Eevee sprinted toward Ivysaur and Charmander, he feared they may have been attacked by wild Pokémon or might have even encountered another trainer looking to capture them. But nothing he imagined could have prepared him for the sight he saw as his friends came into view.

Standing before Charmander and Ivysaur were two very angry looking Pokémon. One was Eevee's mother Flareon, and the other was Charmander's father, Charizard.


	8. Parting Ways

Chapter 8: Parting Ways

 

Eevee’s eyes widened as he stared at Flareon and Charizard. Charmander had his tail between his legs and couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact with his father while Ivysaur just pawed at the ground uncomfortably. Eevee froze in his mother’s gaze, not sure what to do.

“Eevee,” Flareon demanded, “what’s going here?”

The puppy pokemon’s ears sank as he looked between his friends and the adults. “You… you said I should go to Stone Town if I thought I was ready to evolve. That’s why I’m here, Mom.”

“Don’t try to turn this around on me, Eevee,” she replied, looking like flames might begin shooting from her eyes. “I never told you to talk your friends into lying to their parents and sneaking away from home!”

“And what about you?” Charizard boomed overhead, staring down at his son. “You were already grounded from the last time you disobeyed me. And here you go again, running off? What if you had been captured or worse?”

Charmander was staring down at his feet, too nervous to look back up at his father. “I… I…”

“It’s my fault,” Ivysaur said suddenly, moving to stand between Charmander and his father. “I talked him into coming out. I figured if Eevee was going to evolve, all of us could too. Don’t be mad at Charmander. He tried to talk us out of it. Same with when we ran off on Halloween.”

Charmander looked up in surprise. He stared at Ivysaur, wondering why she was willing to take the fall for him. Even Charizard seemed taken aback by the plant pokemon’s sudden declaration.

“Bulbasaur?” Charizard asked, looking at her in confusion. “Is that you?”

Ivysaur grinned. “Well, I _was_ Bulbasaur, but I’m Ivysaur now!”

“It might have been a silly mission,” Eevee said, his ears perking back up as he looked between Ivysaur and the adults, “but it was a successful one! Bulbasaur evolved!”

“Yeah!” Charmander cheered. “You should’ve seen her in action. She really gave that Graveler what he had coming to him!”

“A graveler?” Flareon asked, a sudden note of fear in her voice. “You kids were attacked by a graveler?”

“Perhaps I could be of some assistance,” a voice called from distance. The group turned to see Glaceon approaching. The old pokemon seemed to glide across the ground as he walked, coming to stand beside Eevee as he faced the adults. “Graveler is one of my trainer’s other pokemon. He guards this property and protects many of the smaller, weaker pokemon that call this place home.”

Charizard tilted his head to the side as he stared at Glaceon. He had never seen such a pokemon before and was not sure what to make of it. “Who’re you?”

“Could it be?” Flareon asked suddenly. She seemed absolutely transfixed by the sight of the other eeveelution. “Father?”

Glaceon smiled. “Perhaps. I sired many an eevee in my younger days.”

“Father,” Flareon repeated. “I remember you! I only saw you once, long ago. Mother never told me what became of you!”

Glaceon looked sad as he stared at Flareon. “I’m sorry, Flareon. It’s been a great many years since I’ve seen any of my pups. My… exotic nature was considered too dangerous to let the little ones see, lest they decide they wanted to evolve as I had.”

“My mother was also a flareon,” Flareon said, a fiery look in her eyes. “I was born in a thicket just outside of Cerulean City. I met you once before you abandoned us. Mother said you were a vaporeon, but I knew you weren’t!”

All eyes turned to look at Glaceon, and the old pokemon wore a blank expression as he stared back at Flareon.

“Well, you’re correct in that I’m not a vaporeon,” he replied. “And I’m sorry… I can’t imagine what that was like for you, never knowing your father. Trainers’ pokemon are often separated from the eggs they bare. This was always the case when I courted other eeveelutions. Their trainers all hoped to get a rare pokemon from any egg I helped produce. But for wild pokemon…”

He paused. He looked ashamed as he faced Flareon.

“For wild pokemon,” he began again, “I know now that it’s different. Wild pokemon truly mate and form families. That’s what you mother wanted to do, but when the eggs hatched and you pups were born, she grew fearful. She feared our pups would get the itch in them, as I once did, to find trainers and travel the world, leaving their family behind. We decided it would be best if I went away then, so none of you pups would follow in my footsteps. I regret that choice now.”

Flareon bit her tongue, trying hard to hold back everything she wanted to say to her father, all of the years of pent up anger and frustration she had felt at being abandoned. “It seems that even by leaving us behind, you were not able to prevent all of the pups from wanting to follow in your path.”

Both of the eeveelutions looked over to Eevee. His ears perked up at the sudden attention.

“My son wishes to become an umbreon,” Flareon continued. “He discovered it all on his own. I thought there might be a way here at Stone Mountain… some elemental stone I had never heard of.”

Glaceon shook his head sadly. “If Eevee wishes to become an Umbreon, there is but one path for him to take. He must leave your forest and find a human trainer. That’s the only way.”

Flareon’s ears drooped. “I was afraid you would say something like that.”

“Having a good trainer,” Glaceon said with a wise smile, “can actually be a wonderful thing. I’m sure you’ve known many a Pokémon in your day who was captured. Many live much easier and happier lives than their wild brethren.”

“Well we don’t want our kids to be captured,” Charizard huffed, glaring sharply at Glaceon. “We’re taking them home. Charmander, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Eevee, you kids are coming back with us, and then we’ll talk about a suitable way to handle this since grounding obviously didn’t work.”

Squirtle and Charmander tucked their tails between their legs as they walked over to Flareon and Charizard. Ivysaur walked slowly, hanging her head in dismay. However, as she looked back, she noticed Eevee had not joined them.

“Eevee?” she called, but the puppy Pokémon stood his ground.

“You guys go,” he said with a sad smile. “I’m sure your parents are all worried about you.”

“Eevee?” Charizard gave him a stern look. “You’re coming with us, you know!”

The little brown Pokémon just shook his head and looked over to Flareon. “I’m sorry, Mother. But I know what I have to do. I came out here to find out how to evolve into an umbreon, and now I know.”

Flareon just nodded sadly, blinking back tears in her eyes. “I understand. An eevee knows when it’s time to evolve.”

“I need to find a trainer,” Eevee said. “And then I’ll come back to see you! It will be amazing! I’ll be the first umbreon in our family!”

Eevee’s mother walked over to him and nuzzled her son affectionately, ruffling the little tuft of hair on his head. “I know you will. And I look forward to the day when I finally get to meet an umbreon.”

Eevee wagged his tail and nuzzled his mother back. “Thanks, Mom.”

There was a lot of nuzzling and a few tears as the other three young Pokémon bid farewell to their friend.

“I’m really gonna miss you,” Ivysaur said.

“You better come back and visit real soon!” Squirtle added.

Charmander nodded. “Yeah. And I bet Squirtle and I will have evolved by then as well!”

Eevee grinned. “I bet you guys will have evolved! But I also bet Ivysaur will be a Venosaur by the time that happens!”

The little Pokémon friends laughed, and when they finally parted ways at last, Eevee remained on the mountain, watching them walk down. He knew it would be a while before they reached the bottom. It felt sad to see them go, but there was also something that felt right about his newfound independence.

“You can stay the night,” Glaceon said as he looked down at Eevee, “but tomorrow, you begin your quest for real. You’ll never find your trainer if you hide out on top of this mountain.”

Eevee just nodded. He didn’t say anything. He just watched as his friends and family disappeared from sight.

His journey to Stone Town had not been what he had hoped, but he was one giant step closer to his goal in his quest to become an umbreon. He might not have evolved, but Ivysaur did, and seeing her go through that gave him hope.

Though nothing had turned out as he had expected, Eevee knew everything had turned out right. In the morning, he would find a trainer, but for now the sleepy little Pokémon yawned and began to walk sleepily toward the cabin. They had been on quite the adventure the past few days, and he was tired.

As soon as he woke, however, he would set out on his own for the first day of his new life and continue his quest.


End file.
